Dr Oz: Reprogram Your Taste Buds with Cheetos & Sugar Splash

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Dr Oz: How To Reprogram Your Taste Buds

Think of a food you really hate. Do you even know why you hate it? Vegetables especially get a bad rap sometimes, and one thing I’ve noticed over the years as I’ve tried new foods is that whether something tastes good has a lot more to do with how it’s prepared than anything else.

But the good news is that if you’re trying to get healthy, you can actually retrain your taste buds and learn to like new things. That’s one of the strategies recommended by author and Diet Expert AJ Jacobs, who has tried nearly every diet under the sun.

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Could adding sugar to your vegetables make you enjoy them more? It's one of Dr Oz's taste bud strategies.

If you’re looking for ways to spice up your menu at home and incorporate new foods that may not necessarily be your favorites, here are some strategies that are worth a look.

Doctor Oz: Are Healthy Foods Bland

Adrianne was in the audience, and she complained that healthy foods don’t have any flavor and are too bland for her. She said that she tried Hummus backstage before the taping, and couldn’t make herself eat it. I have a hard time believing that someone could not like Hummus.

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Dr Oz: Sugar Splash Trick

One way to make vegetables more palatable to picky eaters like Adrianne is to put sugar on them (does this seem like a bad idea to anyone else?). You can add a teaspoon of Brown Sugar to Brussels Sprouts, for example. Loading things with sugar proved to be the way to Adrianne’s heart.

Another way you can sugar up your vegetables is by using Sugar Water as a dip for Cauliflower. Just a small taste of sugar can change the way your tastebuds react to veggies.

I’m not sure I can get on board with these strategies. How does adding sugar reprogram the tastebuds? Isn’t sugar bad for you?

Dr Oz: Cheeto Vegetables

Sugar was just the beginning of the supposed health recommendations coming from Dr Oz and Co. today. Crunchy foods tend to be popular with a lot of people. Sunflower seeds are a great addition to a salad, for example.

If you’re having trouble gulping down your vegetables at dinner, Dr Oz and AJ suggested sprinkling Cheetos on top of them. This is ludicrous. You can eat them as a vegetable topping, I guess similar to the fried onions in green bean casserole at Thanksgiving.

Of course Adrianne, with her discerning palate, loved the Cheeto veggies. This segment is really bringing America’s health and diet problems into focus for me.

Dr Oz: Vegetable Purees

You can pack more vegetables into your diet in another way that doesn’t involve sprinkling them with fattening calories. Try throwing Squash or Cauliflower into the food processor, then mixing it with your macaroni and cheese.

Purees will fill you up with healthy nutrients, and even poor Adrianne managed to choke this combination down.

Do You Lose Weight By Eating In Silence?

According to Dr Oz, studies have found that the sounds around you while you eat affect the taste of your food. I guess the theory here is that eating in a quiet environment means you’re more likely to enjoy the taste? Maybe Adrianne should try eating Hummus and carrots alone in a closet.